News in brief

ICMA welcomes European Commission’s proposals for implementing its Action Plan on Sustainable Finance24 May 2018 The International Capital Market Association (ICMA) welcomes the European Commission’s first proposals for implementing its Action Plan on Sustainable Finance aimed at delivering concrete actions to enable the EU financial sector to lead the way to a greener and cleaner economy.ICMA...

ICMA Overview of the ESMA Liquidity Assessment for Bonds (May-Aug 2018), including the list of liquid bonds21 May 2018 ICMA publishes an overview of the ESMA Liquidity Assessment for Bonds (May-Aug 2018), including the list of liquid bonds.
Download the overview...

ICMA AMIC publishes position on ESRB review16 May 2018 AMIC has issued a position paper on the on-going review of the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB). In light of the recent Recommendation on liquidity and leverage risks in investment funds (ESRB/2017/6), we believe that ESRB’s governance could be improved. AMIC believes...

Participate in the ICMA European Repo and Collateral Council's 35th European repo market surveyAll European repo market participants are invited to submit data on their repo business outstanding at close of business on Wednesday, 6 June 2018.

ICMA CBIC issues position paper on EU covered bond legislation20 April 2018 The Covered Bond Investor Council (CBIC) has issued a position paper on the recently released European Commission’s legislative proposal on covered bonds. The CBIC welcomes the legislative initiative on covered bonds. Investors appreciate the blueprint this law will provide to countries that...

ICMA ERCC responds to Commission consultation on the finalisation of Basel III12 April 2018 ICMA's ERCC has responded to a consultation by the European Commission on the finalisation of Basel III. The ERCC response calls for great care to be taken to fully assess the way in which further measures, particularly regarding haircuts, are calibrated.View...

ICMA publishes 2018 legal opinions on global master repo agreement 11 April 2018 (Zurich, Switzerland) The International Capital Market Association (ICMA) has today published the 2018 updates to the ICMA GMRA legal opinions which support the Global Master Repurchase Agreement (GMRA), the standard agreement for international repo transactions. The 2018 opinions cover the use of...

ICMA AMIC publishes statement on fund delegation10 April 2018 ICMA’s Asset Management and Investors Council (AMIC) has today published a statement on fund delegation, underlining the importance of fund delegation to the asset management business model and the threat from recent legislative proposals. Delegation is one of the key pillars supporting...

ISDA, EBF, ICMA and ISLA Publish Whitepaper on Benefits of Post-Trade Risk Reduction Services10 April 2018 The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA), the European Banking Federation (EBF), International Capital Market Association (ICMA) and the International Securities Lending Association (ISLA) have today published a whitepaper on the benefits of post-trade risk reduction services as a crucial risk...

ICMA’s ERCC has recently decided to discontinue coverage of the GMRA 1995 in the ICMA GMRA legal opinions from 2019 onwards20 March 2018 Since the early 1990s, ICMA has devoted considerable resources to developing a standard master agreement for repo. The first version of the GMRA was published in 1992 and was followed by substantially revised versions in 1995, 2000 and 2011. ICMA obtains and...

Latest ICMA survey sets baseline size of the European repo market at record EUR 7,250 billion - Repo market shows signs of adapting to new regulatory environment14 March 2018 The European Repo and Collateral Council (ERCC) of the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) has today released the results of its 34th semi-annual survey of the European repo market. The survey, which calculates the amount of repo business outstanding on 6 December...

Press release on the Action Plan on sustainable finance of the European Commission8 March 2018 The members of the Global Green Finance Council (GGFC) support the European Commission’s Action Plan on sustainable finance and note its breadth and ambition with 12 different workstreams promoting the transition to a sustainable economy. The Action Plan will help align further...

ICMA AMIC responds to FRC consultation on corporate governance and stewardship28 February 2018 ICMA's AMIC has responded to a consultation by the UK Financial Reporting Council (FRC) on the review of the UK Corporate Governance Code and on the UK Stewardship Code. The AMIC response calls for an enhanced role for bond holders in corporate...

ICMA responds to the European Commission’s 'Public consultation on building a proportionate regulatory environment to support SME listing'22 February 2018 ICMA has responded to the European Commission’s consultation 'Public consultation on building a proportionate regulatory environment to support SME listing'. Limited to one question relating to the applicability of the MAR soundings regime to private placement, the response was supported by the...

ICMA publishes study into the European single name credit default swap market15 February 2018 ICMA has published a report on the current state and evolution of the European corporate single name credit default (SN-CDS) market, focused on its benefits for liquid and efficient corporate bond markets.The report is based on interviews with market participants, including...

Results of the 2018 ICMA European Repo and Collateral Committee electionsWe are pleased to announce the results of the 2018 ICMA European Repo and Collateral Committee elections. The 19 individuals that were elected to the new ERCC Committee are listed below. The term of office of the new Committee will be approximately one year starting...

Registration opens for the 50th ICMA Annual General Meeting and Conference, May 30 - June 1, 2018 - Madrid ICMA's 50th AGM and Conference will bring issuers, investors, intermediaries and market infrastructure providers from the cross-border fixed income markets, together with market experts, regulators and policy makers to Madrid to discuss the state of the global industry and future developments. Financial markets are continuing...

EU’s High Level Expert Group report on sustainable finance published31 January 2018 ICMA, which was represented on the HLEG group, comments on the report:“We have been pleased to contribute to the European Commission’s HLEG on Sustainable Finance from the outset, and see the final report released today as a real step forward in creating...

ICMA AMIC responds to publication of the ESAs Review23 January 2018 Today ICMA’s Asset Management and Investors Council (AMIC) has published its response to the publication of the proposals to review the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) and the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB). AMIC welcomes many of the very positive aspects of the...

HKMA and ICMA to co-host the Green and Social Bond Principles Annual General Meeting and Conference in Hong Kong in June16 January 2018 The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) will co-host the Green and Social Bond Principles Annual General Meeting and Conference in Hong Kong in June.The annual general meeting and conference is a flagship international green...

ICMA publishes report on state of the European repo market at year-end 201715 January 2018 (London, UK) ICMA has published a report on the European repo market at year end 2017, based on market data and interviews with market participants (sell-side and buy-side) to provide a brief analysis of the way the market performed and the underlying...

Michael Sansen of ING appointed as the new Chairman of the ICMA Future Leaders CommitteeWe are delighted to announce that Michael Sansen of ING has been appointed as the new Chairman of the Future Leaders Committee, with a term date of 3 years. Michael has been an active and dedicated committee member since the Future Leaders committee was launched...

Updated version of the ICMA ERCC Guide to Best Practice in the European Repo Market now available18 December 2017 ICMA has today published an updated version of the ICMA ERCC Guide to Best Practice in the European Repo Market along with a consolidated blackline of amendments to the Guide since it was previously updated in February 2017.Download the ICMA ERCC...

Joint-industry group publishes directory of global and regional green finance policy initiatives7 December 2017 The Global Green Finance Council (GGFC) has today published the first version of its reference guide to global and regional policy initiatives on green finance.The “Global and European Green Finance Policy Directory” is authored by the GGFC, a group comprised of...

ICMA publishes new FinTech mapping directory for repo and cash bond operations22 November 2017 ICMA’s ERCC Ops FinTech Working Group (WG), a subgroup of the ICMA European Repo and Collateral Council (ERCC), has published today a mapping directory of over 80 technology solutions available for repo and cash bond operations. The directory is divided into 10...

European Commission publishes final report of the Expert Group on Corporate Bond Markets 'Improving European Corporate Bond Markets'20 November 2017 Today the European Commission published the final report of the Expert Group on Corporate Bond Markets, Improving European Corporate Bond Markets. The Expert Group on Corporate Bond Markets (originally the Expert Group on Corporate Bond Market Liquidity) was created in late 2016,...

ICMA ERCC responds to the European Commission’s post-trade consultation 15 November 2017 The ICMA ERCC has submitted a response to the European Commission’s consultation on “Post-trade in a Capital Market Union: dismantling barriers and strategy for the future”. The response focused on collateral and repo specific aspects of the consultation and was prepared based...

AMIC survey on FICC research unbundling8 November 2017 ICMA’s Asset Management and Investors Council (AMIC) today issued a survey it conducted on the intentions of investors with regard to the unbundling of FICC research as a result of the new rules coming from MiFID II. The survey was conducted in...

Rapid growth of the green and social bond markets in Asia attracts market attention2 November 2017 (Tokyo, Japan) The International Capital Market Association and the Japan Securities Dealers Association, have today co-hosted a conference in Tokyo focused on the rapidly growing green and social bond markets of Asia. Investors, underwriters, issuers, policy makers, service providers and other stakeholders...

Frontclear study - Repo: OTC or exchange-traded?Frontclear, whose purpose is to facilitate more participative interbank markets, has commissioned a study to assess whether an exchange is likely to be more effect than an over-the counter (OTC) market in fostering the development of domestic repo trading in emerging financial markets, particularly frontier...

ECB announcement on the Asset Purchase Programme27 October 2017 On 26 October 2017 the ECB’s Governing Council announced changes to its Asset Purchase Programme (APP). This was largely in line with consensus expectations of an extension of purchases, at a reduced rate, and with a shift in emphasis towards forward guidance.

Panda bonds - the foreign issuer perspective - new report from ICMA and NAFMII outlines progress made in making China’s domestic bond markets accessible to international issuers19 October 2017 NAFMII and ICMA, have jointly published ‘The panda bond market and perspectives of foreign issuers’ detailing the views of foreign issuers on the attractiveness of China’s panda bond market. (A panda bond is a debt security issued in the domestic Chinese bond...

Latest ICMA survey sets baseline size of the European repo market at EUR 6,455 billion - Suggests recovery in market volumes since December 201617 October 2017 The European Repo and Collateral Council of the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) has released the results of its 33rd semi-annual survey of the European repo market. The survey, which calculates the amount of repo business outstanding on 7 June 2017 from...

ICMA responds to IOSCO’s consultation paper on Regulatory Reporting and Public Transparency in the Secondary Corporate Bond Markets16 October 2017 ICMA’s members have used IOSCO’s consultation on regulatory reporting and public transparency in the secondary corporate bond markets to voice concerns about the imminent implementation of the MIFID II/R pre- and post-trade transparency regime. In particular, members are keen to stress that...

ICMA responds, jointly with the ASF, GFMA and IIF, re BCBS/IOSCO’s Consultative Documents on “Criteria for and capital treatment of simple, transparent and comparable short-term securitisations5 October 2017 ICMA responded, jointly with the ASF, GFMA and IIF, to the BCBS/IOSCO’s Consultative Documents on criteria for and capital treatment of simple, transparent and comparable (STC) short-term securitisations.Although the Associations support the Committee’s goal of “assisting the financial industry in its...

Results of the pilot survey of repo markets in Asia-Pacific are published26 September 2017 (Hong Kong) ICMA’s European Repo and Collateral Council (ERCC) and ASIFMA’s Secured Funding Markets Committee have today released the results of a pilot survey of the Asia-Pacific repo market. The Asia-Pacific survey uses similar methodology to the long-established ICMA ERCC European repo...

Green Bond Principles publishes translations of its international guidelines14 September 2017 In response to demand and to facilitate global use of the standards key documentation is being published in 20 languages.

MiFID II/R implementation update August 2017We are now sending out monthly updates on the practical implementation of MiFID II/R relating to primary markets, secondary markets, repo and collateral markets, and research unbundling for asset management.

High-level data on European investment grade bond markets from multiple sources on ICMA websiteICMA has made available high-level data from a number of suppliers on its website with the intention of providing an overview of European secondary investment grade corporate bond markets to complement its own studies.From a single point, ICMA members (and other interested market observers)...

ICMA AMIC responds to Central Bank of Ireland consultation on ETFs15 August 2017 ICMA's AMIC has submitted a response to the Central Bank of Ireland’s Discussion Paper on Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). AMIC has long taken an interest in the development of ETFs. AMIC has long taken an interest in the development of ETFs. In...

AMIC & EFAMA publish report on leverage in investment funds19 July 2017 ICMA's Asset Management and Investors Council (AMIC) and EFAMA report on leverage in investment funds. This paper analyses how leverage is used, how the European legislative framework regulates leverage, how international regulators are addressing this topic and how the risks related to leverage...

ICMA & AFME publish review of the state of infrastructure financing in Europe13 July 2017 ICMA and AFME have produced a review of the state of infrastructure financing, investment and related initiatives in Europe, and an assessment of how to further advance and encourage private sector finance for infrastructure projects. The review was undertaken as a follow...

ICMA Future Leaders launches Get Involved! A guide for young professionals in the international capital market.04 July 2017 We want you to get the maximum value from your firm's membership of the International Capital Market Association (ICMA). Get Involved! is a quick guide to what ICMA does and how it works with its members.

Join the new ICMA Mentoring Platform – connecting ICMA members for personal and career growth in capital markets 27 June 2017 ICMA Mentoring Platform has been launched to help individuals at member firms develop their skills by matching those looking for a career mentor with suitable mentors in the international capital market. The new ICMA Mentoring Platform is built on mentoring and e-learning...

ICMA publishes study into the state and evolution of the European credit repo market22 June 2017 ICMA publishes The European Credit Repo Market: The cornerstone of corporate bond market liquidity which explores and describes the state and evolution of the European corporate bond repo and securities lending market (the ‘credit repo market’).

ICMA ERCC launches bilateral SFTR reconciliation exercise02 June 2017 In view of the upcoming implementation of extensive reporting requirements under the EU SFT Regulation, the ICMA ERCC has launched a bilateral reconciliation exercise for repo and buy/sell-back trades. All ERCC members are strongly encouraged to reach out to their major counterparties...

Professional training programmes for today's international financial markets – an update from ICMA Executive Education17 May 2017 Professional training programmes for today's international financial markets – an update from ICMA Executive Education.

ICMA response to the Commission’s consultation on the operations of the ESAs15 May 2017 ICMA responds to the European Commission’s public consultation on the operation of the three European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs).

ICMA Bail-in Working Group held a seminar on 7 April 201712 May 2017 Bringing together various members of the Bail-In Working Group, regulators, issuers and other market participants, the ICMA Bail-in Working Group held a seminar on 7 April 2017 to examine several aspects of the key area of banking regulatory reform - the bail-in...read more

ICMA AGM & Conference 2017 highlightsThe highlights of ICMA AGM & Conference 2017 in Luxembourg, including video, photos and presentations are now available to view.

Save the date! ICMA 50th AGM and Conference 201811 May 2017 Save the date – ICMA is pleased to announce that its 50th Annual General Meeting & Conference will be held in Madrid on May 30 to June 1, 2018. Further details will be announced shortly.

ICMA response to the FSB consultation on Framework for G20 Reform Evaluation11 May 2017 ICMA response to FSB’s consultation on the main elements of a ‘Proposed Framework for Post-Implementation Evaluation of the Effects of the G20 Financial Regulatory Reforms’.

MiFID II/R Post-trade transparency: trade reporting deferral regimes. An ICMA Position Paper - May 201711 May 2017 This paper sets out the formal position of the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) with respect to the trade reporting deferral regime under MiFID II/R for fixed income securities.

The euro repo market at March 2017 quarter-end 20 April The ICMA ERCC has published a briefing note on the behaviour of the euro repo market at the end of March 2017, which updates its note on unprecedented price dislocations experienced in the European repo market over the 2016 year-end.

Stay connected with the ICMA app19 April 2017 - ICMA's improved and revised app gives users updates on the latest news, evetns and educational offerings from ICMA. The app is available to all ICMA members and non-members to download, providing notifications that will help you stay connected with us.
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